The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone

Dolnick, Edward

ISBN 10: 1501198939 / ISBN 13: 9781501198939

Published by Scribner, New York, NY and London, UK, 2021

About this Item

Scarce. Grey cloth covered boards with gilt lettering along the spine. The book is xv + 311 pages in length, with an assortment of color, and black-and-white illustrations. Kindly note that this is a former library book with a withdrawn stamp inside. Our copy is in good condition. Fine for reading. The dust jacket is protected in a mylar sleeve. Photographs are available.

Seller Inventory # 003291

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone
• Publisher: Scribner, New York, NY and London, UK
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1501198939
• ISBN 13: 9781501198939
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

The fast-paced and “engrossing account” (The New York Times Book Review) of “one of the greatest breakthroughs in archaeological history” (The Christian Science Monitor): two rival geniuses in a race to decode the writing on one of the world’s most famous documents—the Rosetta Stone.

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum every year, and yet most people don’t really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries.

Carved in ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone carried the same message in different languages—in Greek using Greek letters, and in Egyptian using picture-writing called hieroglyphs. Until its discovery, no one in the world knew how to read the hieroglyphs that covered every temple and text and statue in Egypt.

Dominating the world for thirty centuries, ancient Egypt was the mightiest empire the world had ever known, yet everything about it—the pyramids, mummies, the Sphinx—was shrouded in mystery. Whoever was able to decipher the Rosetta Stone would solve that mystery and fling open a door that had been locked for two thousand years.

Two brilliant rivals set out to win that prize. One was English, the other French, at a time when England and France were enemies and the world’s two great superpowers. Written “like a thriller” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), The Writing of the Gods chronicles this high-stakes intellectual race in which the winner would win glory for both himself and his nation. A riveting portrait of empires both ancient and modern, this is an unparalleled look at the culture and history of ancient Egypt, “and also a lesson…in what the human mind does when faced with a puzzle” (The New Yorker).

About the Author

Edward Dolnick is the author of Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, The Writing of the Gods, The Clockwork Universe, The Forger’s Spell, and the Edgar Award–winning The Rescue Artist, among other books. A former chief science writer at The Boston Globe, he has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. He lives with his wife near Washington, DC.